just recently picked up a new K2 complete setup including K2 Darko boots, Formula bindings and Turbo Dream board, so i will throw in my two cents on everything.

My background:

riding for 7 years, i'm 6'0" 175 lbs, size 11 boot and i ride all mountain, backcountry, powder and i venture into the park once in a while for the smaller jumps (no jibbing or 40+ ft kickers)

The boots.

the K2 darko's use a traditional lacing system but with boa-conda technology, which tightens the liner as you twist the knob to lock your heel in the cup of the boot. This addition to the boot is amazing, and really lets you dial in a good level of tightness. i'm sure we've all done up our boots as tight as they go but still have too much movement in the liner. the boa-conda tech pretty much eliminates this problem and allows for on-the-fly adjustments depending on what kind of flex you need in the boot. These boots also have K2's harshmellow technology. This isn't new, but is it a great thing to have in a boot, as the soles are very cushy on hard landings. The one flaw with this boot is that the liner does up with velcro. This is not a huge problem, but i am worried about the velcro losing its stickiness as the season goes on. the velcro holds you in just fine though, so i suppose it remains to be seen how it will hold up.

The bindings.

i went with the K2 formula bindings because i wanted adjustability, and they give you just that in almost every aspect of the binding. the highback angle, height, gas pedal and straps can all be adjusted in a number of ways, allowing you to dial in the precise binding feel you want. a newer addition for this year i believe is the canted footbeds and angled highbacks which point inwards to give a more natural foot position. I didn't notice a difference at first, but when i stepped into a friends board after riding mine for a while, the foot position felt unnatural. i would highly recommend these bindings, or any bindings with canted footbeds to relieve stress on the outer part of the foot.

The board.

the turbo dream is K2's rockered all mountain killer. I wanted a board that would give me control while ripping down groomers, effortless float in the powder, maneuverability in the trees and dampening on hard landings. I can confidently say after riding this board that it does all of these things very well. i opted for a 157W to maintain maneuverability, but i was worried about how it would behave in high speed carving. after testing it out on groomers my worries immediately disappeared. The edge to edge transitions are snappy and edge hold is strong. This board is very confidence inspiring when ripping through the groomers. This deck also kills it in the trees in the tight powder stashes and trails. with the 157 and the rocker technology, the board can turn on a dime, and is very responsive when you need to make split second turns and decisions when bombing the forest. the rocker tech also means this board floats effortlessly in the powder. this allows for a more centered stance when cruising the pow and minimizes the the back leg burn you would get with a cambered board. with the harshmellow technology added for this years turbo dream, you have another layer of absorption when you case those jumps or hit a drop with a flat landing. the harshmellow also helps when riding over crud and small children, as it acts as a shock absorber to minimize small impacts. this board is also very confidence inspiring when trying new tricks, especially spins. the rockered design makes it much more difficult to catch an edge on sketchy landings, and will inspire you to try bigger jumps and more spins.

Conclusion.

I am extremely happy with this setup. People should not knock K2 as they have a great lineup this year, and the Turbo Dream is destined to be a great seller. All the innovation and technology in the board, boots and bindings contribute to the total comfort of the rider, and makes riding more effortless and more fun. This combination is very confidence inspiring, and will truly improve anyones riding in a variety of conditions.

thanks for reading! feel free to ask me anything about my setup!

gauntlet09

02-28-2011 11:03 PM

Great review! Thanks!

kls

03-01-2011 08:42 AM

Glad you're loving the K2 setup. I have the K2 Fling myself and my bf has the Darkos as well. He loves the boa-conda tech too.

ginofultano

03-02-2011 08:33 PM

Good reviews, thanks. I also have the Darkos, the best thing I ever did was to bake them to fit. It took a few times to get it perfect, but they are super comfortable now.

ryannorthcott

03-02-2011 08:41 PM

Yeah I got them heat molded as well. Man what a difference! Paired with my Burton socks they are the ultimate in comfort an warmth.

schmitty34

03-08-2011 12:01 PM

ryannorthcott - just curious what other boards you have ridden and how the Turbo Dream compared.

I am considering buying one that I found for a good deal, but I am hesitating because I was originally thinking my next board would be BTX or something similar (i.e. rocker with some type of edge tech to help grib hard pack and ice).

I was originally thinking I'd buy a C2BTX like the Skunk Monkey or the Dark Series, but they cost much more and not 40% off like the Turbo Dream.

ryannorthcott

03-08-2011 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schmitty34
(Post 386081)

ryannorthcott - just curious what other boards you have ridden and how the Turbo Dream compared.

I am considering buying one that I found for a good deal, but I am hesitating because I was originally thinking my next board would be BTX or something similar (i.e. rocker with some type of edge tech to help grib hard pack and ice).

I was originally thinking I'd buy a C2BTX like the Skunk Monkey or the Dark Series, but they cost much more and not 40% off like the Turbo Dream.

yeah that's the only thing that's biasing my review, my lack of experience with other brands. my previous board was a k2 darkstar, which was a great board, but completely shadowed by the performance of the turbo dream. i also tested out my friends brand new k2 fastplant and found it felt heavier and less lively (if that makes any sense).

i would have loved to demo a couple of lib/never summer/bataleon boards just to get a feel for all the different technologies out there but sadly i didn't have that option. i went with the turbo dream because of my positive experiences with the k2 brand, the quality of reviews, and because it matched well to the type of riding i do. for these reasons i don't regret the purchase at all and i especially don't regret not paying ~$150 more for a lib/gnu/never summer.

schmitty34

03-08-2011 04:40 PM

cool, thought I'd try.

I'm heading to Whistler this weekend and they have demos available every day so I am hoping to demo the turbo dream a lib and maybe a few others to compare. I'll post reviews if I end up doing the demos.

I'm thinking of buying the turbo dream, I feel like I want to step it up and get a quality board I can use for a couple years, but how does it do in the park? I want a board that I can have fun with on normal days up in the mountain and In trees and powder (basically an all Mt board) but I've got to be able to ride our competitions on my board too, the comps are slope style, boarder cross an half pipe. So would this board be good for me? I want a board that can do decent in the park (I'm more worries about jumps than rails, but I like rails too), pipe, and speed, but I don't want to sacrifice the rest of the mountain for that! This board sounds good for cliffs and pow and trees but yeah how is it in da park/pipe?